Some people just love making lists, and I would very much count myself as one of them. Sometimes, this penchant for ordered hierarchy can land us listers in trouble. For instance, every Christmas, after the last of the turkey has left our plates but before the pudding has been unveiled, it has become my custom to slowly haul myself to my feet, clink my spoon against my wine-glass, and clear my throat before beginning a speech. A speech whereby I rank all of our assembled family members in order of how much I enjoyed their company over the course of the year. When, inevitably, some low-ranking smart-alec takes umbrage with their positioning - typically my uncle Keith, I will then break out a further list giving a comprehensive rundown as to why exactly they are so dismal. It certainly doesn't win me many fans around the table and I've heard many grumblings that it 'sours the atmosphere', but I stand by it.
All of that is to say that I heavily identify with the Times Higher Education and their infernal fascination with ranking the universities of the world by various metrics, they are truly doing the lord's work.
Well in their latest foray into this field, they have thrown together 150 of the hottest universities this dang globe we call 'The Earth' has to offer. In first place it's your boys and gals over at the California Institute of Technology, representing the first of a slew of American educational institutions that dominate the top of the rankings. Well, to find Ireland's sole entry onto the list, I hope you have your scrolling finger well and truly limbered, as Trinity College Dublin slithers into this list in 131st place.
Bragging rights secured for Trinity? Well, perhaps, if you place such importance in these things, though I feel if you do, you have bigger personal issues to contend with.
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"What if I have too much time on my hands, and would like to spend that precious time by extensively researching the methodology used to determine these rankings, what then? Whatever will I do?" Well dear reader you could simply head over to the rankings page where the break down just how they created these rankings.
